Ahhh -we are home after 5 days in San Antonio. Kids are in bed and coffee is brewing – I just whipped up some homemade whipped cream and Chris is mixing up some lovely coffee drinks for us. Yum!

So the Hedge Family Christmas of 2006…. We were sick as usual. Last year Tyler woke up on Christmas Day with pink eye and we discovered upon taking him to the doctor two days later that he had an ear infection as well. This year, Daddy was sick and feeling like major crapola. Tyler was wheezing and coughing and although the cold wasn’t making him feel bad – his 4 canines cutting through were. Quinn was running a high fever and puking up lots of phlegm. Her fever actually broke halfway through Christmas Day. That really sucked especially becaust the first week of Chris’ vacation was eaten up by illness.

The holidays were packed with the usual slew of enjoyment, arguments, make ups, and more family fun. Oh, and Christmas wasn’t cancelled. Chris had been waiting for Christmas morning all month and there was no way my Mom was postponing it. He had been reading the Night Before Christmas to Tyler and Tyler was waiting for “Christmas morning”. She instead opted to tell the family to come and hour later. Oh, and it didn’t take long for Tyler to learn how to open presents.

And eventhough my Mom was on the verge of cancelling the party (which she almost does every year) – we all hung in there and everything was ready and everyone had a really great time. It will probably be the last time my whole family on my Dad’s side is together like that, so it made the get together even more meaningful for me.

Tyler decided that he wouldn’t nap for all except one day – there were several things affecting that. Break in routine, lack of outside time due to rain and nebulizer treatments that were making him hyper. He was in a spectacular mood let me tell you. In some ways I am looking forward to getting back to the “normal” routine.

We did make it to my favorite Mexican restaurant that my family has been going to since my Dad was a kid and we did make it down to the Riverwalk where we ran into who else but Tyler’s best friend Piper and her family! It is such a small world! Chris and my Mom did get to take Tyler to see Christmas lights on Christmas night and Tyler even fell asleep on the way home! Afterwards we all watched “Holiday Inn”, a family favorite Christmas movie.

All in all it was good. It will be our last Christmas in that house as well. That is the only childhood home I have every know and surprisingly I am not that emotional about them selling it.  That house has been in my family for two generations which is rare these days. My parents should be up here in a few months. The holidays are always a hectic time for us. Chris and I have a thousand things we want to do this week, but are trying to remain realistic about what we will actually accomplish.

For all the craziness, we are in a good place and that is the most important thing. With that, I decided not to run off with Santa..

..and I have enough material to write a mini-novel.  Seriously, every day has been up and down and up and down.  It is what makes the holidays great people – drama!!  Who wants a relaxing holiday anyway? That is not what they are for!  I don’t have time right now and don’t have access to a computer at night to chat (Tyler sleeps in the computer room).  However, we will return to home tomorrow and after the kiddos are asleep I will recap the last thrilling 4 days….

What?  You need some teasers?  Hmmmm…..sick toddler getting 4 canines at once doesn’t nap for 3 days straight and rain thwarts lots of outside time, pre-family party freak-out leads Grandma to want to postpone gift opening to the day after Christmas and sick baby is puking up phlegm (I think I spelled that right! Yay, me!).   Does toddler go crazy and tear Grandma’s house apart? Will presents have to wait? Does sick baby spend Christmas miserable?  Does Daddy get to take his son to look at Christmas lights on Christmas?  Does Mommy run away with Santa Claus?  It will make you laugh, it will make you cry – the Hedge Family Christmas 2006 – don’t miss it!!  In theatres soon…..

..you are using your son’s toddler wipes because there is no toilet paper in the house.  That was us a couple of days ago anyway….

Did I mention my son stuck his finger in dog poop today?  Yup, found some, stuck his finger in it and then came into the house to show us….

Where to start with this kid??  As much as he can drive Chris and I crazy, he melts us and cracks us up so much!  I love how much he sings.  His latest and my favorite is “Frosty the Snowman”.  In his carset or in the house  you will hear him singing “Frosty the Snowman, what a jolly soul!”.  Sometimes he throws in “pipe, button nose and eyes of cold” (and yes, that is cold, not coal).

Whenever Chris leaves for work, Tyler has to hop in his little Flinstone-esque car, “drive” it to the edge of the garage and sit there watching his Daddy back out of the driveway and head off to work.

The other day on the changing table he told me “granola stuck teeth”.  Sure enough, he had a piece stuck in his teeth.  I thought that was so funny that he figured out what that annoying thing was bugging him.

Chris has been having a great time reading various Christmas books to Tyler including the Night Before Christmas.  Now in the mornings you will hear Tyler declare “Christmas morning” to which Chris has to say, “not yet”.  Mind you that Tyler doesn’t know that there are presents or anything on that day – he just knows there is something about Christmas morning.

The other day I was picking him up out of his bed after nap and his covers got caught on his feet.  He said “covers caught leg. silly covers!”  That cracked me up.

He is talking so much these days.  We took his kitchen out of the office recently and he walked in to the office and said to his Daddy, “Daddy, where’d kitchen go?”  At dinner he asked Chris, “need more muffin, Daddy?”

He knows “decoration” and that “nebulizer helps cough” and he will throw a tantrum and say, “no, nopy, no breathing treatment, no treatment”.  That is no fun.

And we have to say goodbye to some words too.  He now knows “bleeding”, so “blooding” which I thoroughly enjoyed, in long gone.

He is very quick to tantrum, but is also quick to get over it.  His mama is working on her patience with him because there are days that I am short on it.  However, he and I can talk a lot now which is very helpful.  I have a better idea of what his needs and wants since he can express them so well.  That takes a lot of the guesswork out of things.  It is more the “we can’t do/have that” and limit-setting type stuff that gets him upset.

Just today Chris was sick and sleeping in the bedroom and he told me “be right back, mama.  Going check on Daddy.”  He got this from me telling him, “be right back, I am going to check on Quinn” when she is taking a nap.   It is so wierd to hear your phrases and the like come back at you through your child’s mouth.   He is an amazing little boy – so full of energy and life.

Mark my words right here – this girl is going to be trouble. It is so clear. She sees a toy and she goes after it. Take that toy away, or if the toy gets beyond her reach or if the toy just does something she doesn’t like – she gets MAD. She is always easy to console, but she does get PO’d. She knows what she likes and she doesn’t like being messed with. Getting her dressed annoys her sometimes – she really dislikes getting her arms in armholes. She loves to be naked and have plenty of time to suck on her toes – I call it “toe time”. Some days I try to give her a good bit of toe time as she really enjoys it!

If she is in the bouncy seat or on the changing table and I walk in opposite direction, she will turn her body and head so she can see where I am going. Do NOT leave her in the room by herself – that really ticks her off too. Especially if Tyler is with me – she wants in on all the action.

She is so quick with the laughs and giggles. She loves it when you repeat her clicks and noises, play peek-a-boo, zurp her tummy, pretend to eat her hands. And more than anything else, she loves to be sung too. I have this thing where I gently bounce her on my lap and sing the end of “Frosty the Snowman” going “thumpety- thump, thump, thumpety- thump, thump, look at Quinny go…” and so on. At the end after “over the hills of snow!”, Tyler always chimes in with a “yay!” which brings and even bigger smile to her face.

I put her in the toddler swing next to Tyler today and gave her just a few gentle nudges. She was smiling and seem to really enjoy it. I think she was most excited to have her brother next to her. Tyler did not like the swing until he was much older, so I am happy that she may be warming up to it sooner.

She is starting to make consonants – la, ga and da which makes her Daddy very happy. They are already working on da-da together. Daddy has also give his little girl a new nickname – “bundle” short for “bundle of joy”, “bundle of cuteness” and how we hold her in a bundle somtimes folded up so she can suck on those toes!

She is amazing and puts up with so much. Forever I will have the guilt that her needs aren’t always met right away. My friend says that she believes that kids are meant to be born into the order in which they come. I hope that is the case.

She is sitting more and I try to get her lots of practice time. She is digging the sitting thing. I tell you crawling will be here before we know it. Tyler is starting to feel that pressure. He has been attacking her a bit more lately. I know that it will come – it is all part of where they both are being so close together.

She is amazing and I know when she is mobile she will get into things in a way her brother never did. She is so assertive and observative and curious. The way she turns toys to inspect them. She doesn’t miss a beat. Mark my words, she is a bright one and she is going to be trouble! :-p

The one who is giving birth to the sun tonight. I hate to disturb a woman in labor, but her contractions are making my life very icky right now. My friend read this in a book that talked about pagan rituals and the like:

now, at solstice, the balance has tipped as far toward the dark as it
can go. we are ready for the light to come back, and we must do all we
can to help it…. so if you want to change something in your life, or
something about yourself, the winter solstice is a good time to work
on it.

I wonder.  I remember clearly having a bit of an emotional breakdown on the solstice and having a crazy holiday.  No sleep because Tyler unbeknownst to us had an ear infection which was discovered two days after Christmas when we took him in because he woke up Christmas morning with pink eye….

This year though I am in that mode.  I feel like the energy in my house is negative and dank. Chris and I are cleaning out the entire house getting rid of all the stuff we don’t need and moving things around a bit.  I am hoping this weill help.

We were making progress, but then Tyler got sick.  His awful cough and wheeze are back – so far they are back every December/January like reliable friends. Chris got sick yesterday and feels like total crap.  So much for his two week vacation.  I had it all planned out that this week, I would hang out with my mamas and do our activities and give Chris some time off and then I would have the afternoons off.

It was too well-planned.  Here we are just trying to get well.  Christmas shopping not done, gifts not wrapped and the house is pretty messy.  Tyler has been a total crank-pot and I can’t blame him.  He hasn’t been napping which isn’t good for a sick kid.  I am worn out.

It is depressing for Chris and I.  I KNOW he was looking forward to these two weeks, we both were.  It is what it is.  We have kids.  There was a sweet moment yesterday where both sicko guys were snuggled on the couch watching Polar Express together.

Anyway, I do remember last year that at some point in January/February we were in such a good place.  So I guess I just have to hang in there and stay focused.

Also trying to really use homepathic remedies for my guys’ illnesses.  No word yet on if I selected the appropriate remedies.  I enjoy the sleuthwork.  If I did a good job, it should shorted their illnesses some.  We will see.

and Quinn has spent the last 10 minutes fascinated with the string attached to Tyler’s retro telephone pull-toy.  So funny to see what captures their attention.  She thinks water bottles are awesome and loves to grab them and put them in her mouth..

Silly girl.  I am here printing out Christmas letters.  There are lots of cute kiddo updates which I will post soon.  Had a really, really crappy weekend and didn’t want to post.  There is just a point where I need to go inside sometimes.  Anyway, Tyler may be sick, but who knows, maybe soon we will be on an upswing or just dealing better..

Tyler is here – gotta go